Marathon Sells Offshore Angola Stake On Friday, July 17, integrated oil major Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO) announced the sale of its 20% interest in a block offshore Angola for $1.3 billion. A subsidiary of Marathon has reached an agreement with Chinese oil companies CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and Sinopec (SNP). The transaction is expected to close by year-end 2009, subject to government and regulatory approvals. Per the deal, CNOOC and Sinopec will form a 50-50 venture to buy the stake in the subsea Angolan oilfield located some 150 kilometers off the country's coast in a water depth of 1400 to 2200 meters. Known as ‘Block 32,’ the 5,090-square-kilometer field has already yielded 12 successful exploration wells. Pursuant to the proposed sale, the Houston-based, fifth-largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products in the U.S. would retain a 10% interest in the enterprise of the 30% it ...

Marathon Sells Interest in Corrib Natural Gas DevelopmentOn Wednesday, June 24, 2009, Texas-based Marathon Oil Corporation (MRO) announced the sale of its interest in the Corrib offshore natural gas development project on Ireland's northwest coast, a joint-venture between Shell (RDS.A), StatoilHydro (STO) and Marathon. The company has reached an agreement in this regard with Alberta-based oil and gas company Vermilion Energy Trust.Per the agreement, Marathon will sell its wholly owned Irish subsidiary, Marathon International Petroleum Hibernia Ltd. (having an 18.5% interest in the Corrib development) to Vermilion in a deal worth between $235 million and $400 million, subject to the timing of first commercial gas at Corrib.Under the terms of the deal, Vermilion will pay Marathon an initial payment of $100 million at the closure of the transaction, expected during ...

January 14, 2009 ndash; Yesterday Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold introduced S. 222 to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the national limitation on qualified energy conservation bonds and to clarify that certain programs constitute a qualified conservation purpose, and for other purposes; to the Committee on Finance. We expect to see further legislation supporting energy efficiency and alternative energy development. Here is the text from Feingoldrsquo;s comments on the floor:nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; Mr. FEINGOLD. Mr. President, over the past few days I have introduced a series of bills that are part of my E4 Initiative, dubbed E4 because of its focus on economy, employment, education, and energy. Today I am introducing two bills that are part of this effort: the Community Revitalization Energy Conservation, CREC, Act of 2009 and the Energy and Technology Advancement, ETA, Act of 2009.nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The newest among my E4 bills is the Community Revitalization Energy Conservation, CREC, ...

Timothy Sykes is planning an 8 hr Marathon of his Livestocks show in honor of Friday the 13th. You can catch his show here or on his site.